Occupancy?

[Mcgum]

What is the name of your state? GA

We are ibuying a house and are in the process of counter offering the seller. The seller wants to close on the 18th but wants to stay in the house until the 1st of the following month. We would have a contract set up to make sure it conditions are clear but I am not sure if it is a good idea. Has anyone done this before? Are there any problems that we might not foresee being the buyer?

Thanks
Mary

[PghREA]

From the day you close until the day the sellers move out, you are a landlord.
You need to make sure that they continue their home owners insurance until the day they move out. The pit fall is that when you do your final walk-through before closing, all their furniture and "stuff" is still in the house which may be concealing potential problems. Also, when they do move they may take things which was suppose to stay with the home, or leave things they were suppose to take with them, or damage walls etc. as they move.

As a Realtor, I've had many agreements where the sellers have "rented back" for a period of time after closing and I've never encountered any problems. However, you're taking a chance when you do rent back. It is not something we encourage. I would try to get the sellers to be moved out as of the day of closing but, if for some reason they can't and you really love the house, go for it.

[Mcgum]

Thank you for the information. We do love the house so we will "go for it".

[onestr8]

Once you become a landlord you are subject to a different set of laws. While I agree that it most likely will go well, you're talking about your house. Do you want to roll the dice?

For example, in some (like Illinois - maybe all states for all I know) things like filing for bankruptcy can protect people from eviction proceedings. While this is a different situation, I've had friends who went to court to try and evict a tentent only to find out they had protection under bankruptcy and had to get in line with the other creditors. This is just one example of what could go wrong.

Me. I don't think I would do it. Move the closing if possible.

[fairisfair]

I did this ONCE, what a f***ing nightmare, the day for them to leave came and went, and so did weeks afterward, I almost had to end up evicting them from the home and they trashed the house, what was neat and clean at the time of closing, was now a filthy mess. Don't do it, they can make other arrangements, trust me, they want to sell as much or more than you want to buy.